HARRISBURG – We’ll still be masking up in Pennsylvania. Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam was asked about a possible end to the current mandate following some southern states ending their mandatory masking mandates recently.
“At this time, mask wearing is abundantly important. We have to keep Pennsylvania safe while we progress through this roll out, so that we don’t have to go back into mitigation efforts and we’re still making sure that that’s one of the mitigation efforts that’s preserved.”
Beam says the state is already making good progress and has resulted in the state slightly increasing limits for in and outdoor gatherings, as well as eliminating the out-of-state travel ban, “I think that is indicative of the progress that the state is making on key factors. We’ve talked through COVID cases, hospitalizations, deaths, and the presence of the variant. And really understanding how the vaccine plays and supports those relaxations of mitigation efforts is something that we are consistently evaluating.”
Beam says it’s likely the state will continue incrementally increasing gathering sizes through the spring while keeping the mask mandate.
